EPL 2023/2024
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Another season down in the PL with City (yawn) claiming their 4th on the trot. Hard to say they didn't deserve it either, with Arsenal pushing them really hard, they withstood the pressure, stepped up and won. One of the most fun seasons I've watched with plenty of twists, strange results and goals. Rather odd that it co-incided with Englands arguably worst season in Europe in a long time. So let's wrap it up.
City: Champs again, phenomenal team full of phenomenal players with a generational manager.
Arsenal: Decent enough choke again, the loss vs Villa the difference between 1st and 2nd
Liverpool: Klopp didn't get his dream farewell as once again he proved, he cannot manage a title race.
Villa: Wow! What a season for them, huge kudos to Emery.
Spurs: Excellent first season for Postecoglu, hard to beat at home and epitome of the fun season
Chelsea: Poch worked it out in the last quarter (pass it to Cole), great launchpad for next year
Newcastle: Bit of an also-ran season after last year, Howe has some off season thinking to do
Man Utd: Ten Hag been sacked yet? Colossally underachieving squad.
West Ham: Farewell to Moyes whose been superb, shame the fan base didn't really appreciate it
Palace: Unbelievable finish and mid table a superb return for this club
Brighton: De Zerbi leaves with a job very well done. Always threatening, not always getting what deserved
Bournemouth: Similar to Palace, fans must be happy with this season
Fulham: Look the full Premiership team this year with a disappointing end to the season.
Wolves: Sold, but not spectacular. Suspect fans will want more next year
Everton: Fans happy to see them stay up which isn't good enough for a club of this calibre. Financial difficulties will continue to unfold, but perhaps worst is behind them
Brentford: Another good season, have a feeling they will struggle next after the last couple as don't seem to be moving forwards
Notts Forest: Perhaps could have done better as Wood had decent service. Will be happy to stay in though
Luton Town: Disappointing to see them go down, epitome of the fun season with Spurs. Will be missed
Burnley: Back to the championship, with that perhaps a better reflection of their level
Sheffield United: Totally not up to it, arguably would have gone down in the Championship as wellAwards:
One Man Team Award:
Must go to Cole Palmer at Chelsea. Absolutely carried them through the middle part and then when the team realised that working with him was the way forwards, results came. Penalty fight vs Everton epitome of Chelseas lows. A true football hero in the middle of a bunch of over paid prima donnas.Worst Call Of The Year:
@MajorRage said in EPL 2023/2024:I think Rice is going to be a complete failure at Arsenal. There is no way he's worth 105mm & the pressure of it will tell.
Dickhead Of The Year:
Hotly contested award with plenty of contenders, but I'm going with West Ham fans. Moyes has done more for your club than anybody and he agrees it's time to depart, but all your Moyes Out signs when you've been in the top half of the table shows just how much you think you are above your station. Dickheads.Toughest Challenge For Next Year Award:
Ratcliffe. What are you going to do when you learn that ten Hag wasn't the biggest problem, your over paid for bunch of talent is. Good luck fella, will need.We Will Miss You Award:
Luton Town, what a club to have in the EPL. Walk through the postman's back garden to enter the stadium, then have no clue what you'll get. Down 3-0 at half time? Doesn't mean anything ..... So much fun to watch week in, week out.Departing Manager Award:
Lots to choose from here, but I'm going to give it to Klopp. Not only did he manage to win the EPL once in his 8 years, but he managed to turn the worlds biggest fan club of over entitled one eyed fools, into something even .... worse. He shall be missed, but I'm sure I'll keep hearing the he would have won so much more if it wasn't for cheating City line over and over again .... Fun fact. He didn't.Biggest Thing Of Last Year To A Bit Nothing This Year:
Newcastle. Talked about at every level the entire season last year, but a bit of an also ran season this one.Spirit of the Premier League award:
I'm giving this to my colleague Carl. Season ticket holder at Spurs for 25 years, 42 year old Dad of 2 boys, loving father, fantastic husband and hard worker. He gets it for, in his words "punching the lights out of the Spurs fan supporting City. I'll always support the team, fuck that". The best part is he took a Dutch graduate to the game and it all unfolded in front of him. Legend.Proper Awards:
Manager Of The Year:
Really tough this one, but I'm giving it to Emery. Villa were superb from the get go and he managed it superbly. Guardiola superb as always, and this could have been Arteta's if they'd gotten over the line. But for sheer punching above expectations, it's gotta be Unai.Signing Of The Year:
I'm giving this one to Palmer. Perhaps Rice was a better overall, but he came with a huge amount of talent, fanfare, talk & coverage. Palmer didn't, and he did more for his team than Rice.Player Of The Year:
Honourable mentions to Palmer, Odegaard, Rice, Watkins but I have to go with Foden for this one. Sheer talent, sheer will and some fantastic goals. When somebody outshines Haaland, De Bruyne, Grealish ... the list goes on ... they have to be somebody special.The Major Rage Overall Award:
And the big one, the one you've all been waiting for. I don't think there has been a bigger standout for me across the season this year as much as previous ones. Loads of talent out there, loads of excellent games, loads of brilliant watching but I think one person just sums it up for me. I acknowledge this come from left field but I have absolutely fucking loved Ange Postecoglu. I can't even really explain why, maybe it's because he's really just a fat Aussie bastard, but I've loved it.Along with Luton Town, the epitome of why this season was such a fun one. Onya Ange.
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@mariner4life said in EPL 2023/2024:
Fuck City are annoying.
They last lost in early December. The 2nd half of the season their record is a frankly ridiculous 16-3-0
Arsenal on the other hand have gone a perfectly acceptable 14-1-4 and will likely finish 2nd.
They just don't lose in the league after December, ever. Relentless. It's why the old "top at Christmas" means fuck all. Even if you are top at Christmas, you know you are going to have to be exceptional for the rest of the season as well, as City will just grind you down.
Very few teams have lost while leading at Xmas. In fact if memory serves me correctly, that sad claim to fame is Liverpool's. Which is unfortunate when you can amass what is historically a winning total and still lose the title. That's how good sports washing is when done exceptionally well.
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Luton town losing badly at home to Sheffield United was a killer blow. They really gave it a shot though but their defence was wot killed them.
Palace finished the season on a roar.
As much as I didn’t want city to win foden has been an absolute delight to watch play.
Signings off season will be interesting. Tottenham could do with one or two.
First season ever I got into PL but with 10 matches a week and only costing me CHF20 / month it was a steal. Came at I time when I’m quite disillusioned with rugby especially the ridiculous attempt to use red cards to wipe out accidental head contact in a contact sport. Needs rule changes not cards IRB!
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@MajorRage great stuff!
Surprised at people not expecting much from Villa this year. I thought we'd finish 5th before a ball was kicked, but yeah, no one seemed to have too much faith in us doing well.
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Man City winning 4 PLs in a row is a bit like Lance Armstrong winning 7 Tours de France in a row and Ben Johnson winning the 1988 Olympics in 9.79. It's spectacular achievement if you overlook the cheating.
It's only a matter of time until the last two Premier League titles are awarded to Arsenal and Man City get booted down to League 2.
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@sparky said in EPL 2023/2024:
Man City winning 4 PLs in a row is a bit like Lance Armstrong winning 7 Tours de France in a row and Ben Johnson winning the 1988 Olympics in 9.79. It's spectacular achievement if you overlook the cheating.
It's only a matter of time until the last two Premier League titles are awarded to Arsenal and Man City get booted down to League 2.
It’s a bit yawn tbh and smacks of jealousy. They are well coached and have great players. There are plenty of other teams with big money investments who under achieve. Chelsea and Man U anyone?
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@sparky said in EPL 2023/2024:
Man City winning 4 PLs in a row is a bit like Lance Armstrong winning 7 Tours de France in a row and Ben Johnson winning the 1988 Olympics in 9.79. It's spectacular achievement if you overlook the cheating.
It's only a matter of time until the last two Premier League titles are awarded to Arsenal and Man City get booted down to League 2.
I can't see their lawyers letting that happen for charges that are already 6 seasons old
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Arsenal: Decent enough choke again, the loss vs Villa the difference between 1st and 2nd
No way that was a choke, Arsenal had a great season and just didn't quite get enough points for the title, no disgrace in that. In Arteta's 4 full seasons, their points totals have been
61 (8th)
69 (5th)
84 (2nd)
89 (2nd)For a young manager in his first role with a team that he has built himself, that is very impressive. The next step is to strengthen in key areas an improve the depth so that he can make sure his gun players get enough rest. In those 4 seasons, Saka has only missed 9 league games while also playing a World Cup and I think you can see at times that he loses his spark.
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@KiwiPie said in EPL 2023/2024:
Arsenal: Decent enough choke again, the loss vs Villa the difference between 1st and 2nd
No way that was a choke, Arsenal had a great season and just didn't quite get enough points for the title, no disgrace in that. In Arteta's 4 full seasons, their points totals have been
61 (8th)
69 (5th)
84 (2nd)
89 (2nd)For a young manager in his first role with a team that he has built himself, that is very impressive. The next step is to strengthen in key areas an improve the depth so that he can make sure his gun players get enough rest. In those 4 seasons, Saka has only missed 9 league games while also playing a World Cup and I think you can see at times that he loses his spark.
If they can get Isak from Newcastle and jettison Jesus that would be a good start.
One more game to watch this season: Leeds vs Southampton for promotion.
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@Billy-Tell said in EPL 2023/2024:
If they can get Isak from Newcastle and jettison Jesus that would be a good start.
Jesus should be used more on the right to rest Saka.
Newcastle are interested in Ramsdale, and Arsenal have been linked to Guimarães.
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@Billy-Tell Maybe you haven't been following the case closely? There are 112 charges still pending agains Manchester City. Each one serious enough to lead to a points reduction.
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@Billy-Tell Man City literally has a state lobbying British diplomats on its behalf.
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@antipodean said in EPL 2023/2024:
ery few teams have lost while leading at Xmas. In fact if memory serves me correctly, that sad claim to fame is Liverpool's.
Mate it happened this year - and last year
It happens almost exactly half the time
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How often do Christmas leaders go on to win the title?
We look at the good news and bad news for Arsenal after they secured the Christmas No 1 spot
